The Democrats' 103rd Choice

It’s time to check in on the 1924 Democratic National Convention and find out whether the party Will Rodgers belonged to had figured out who its candidate for president was.

"Sea Sick" by William Hanny in Philadelphia Inquirer, July 2, 1924

When we left the 1924 Democratic National Convention, the leading contenders were William McAdoo, lately of California, and Al Smith, Governor of New York; a host of other candidates hoped to capitalize when one of the leaders fell.

As the convention entered its second week, seven ballots were cast on July 1; but the Democrats were no closer to agreeing on their standard bearer than when they had begun.

"As Berryman Views the Convention" by Clifford Berryman in Washington (DC) Evening Star, July 2, 1924

A tradition we are sadly losing these days is newspapers sending their editorial cartoonists to political conventions to send back their sketches of the activity on the floor. Clifford Berryman's sketchbook entries included future president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, returning to politics after being sidelined by polio, and Woodrow Wilson's red-baiting Attorney General, A. Mitchell Palmer.

"Platform Carpenters Produce Plank Mentioning No Names" by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 1, 1924

Meanwhile, as the balloting for the party's nominee dragged on, cartoonists' work on editorial pages took on the issues bedeviling the platform committee.

"Forgot to Look Under the Bed" by O.P. Williams for Star Company, ca. July 2, 1924

A proposed plank to condemn the Ku Klux Klan drew strong opposition from the populists, and many rural southern and western delegates.

"Pandora" by Bill Sykes in Philadelphia Public Record, ca. July 1, 1924

Nor could delegates agree on a party position on prohibition. Many of McAdoo’s delegates stood in defense of Prohibition and the Klan; Smith supporters were against both. 

"Where to Now, Sam" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Des Moines Register, July 3, 1924

"Ding" Darling was another cartoonist attending the convention; and while several of his cohorts were sending rough sketches to their editors, Darling was sending home fully realized editorial cartoons. This is one of four Darling cartoons in the Register that day, and it highlights a significant issue overlooked by many other editorial cartoonists: Democrats' alienation of the labor vote in favor of Wall Street and the South.

"Why Not Something Permanent for the Future" by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 8, 1924

One consequence of the convention dragging on and on was that delegates were overstaying their hotel reservations, and, presumably in some cases, their funds.  

William McAdoo maintained a lead through the 77th ballot, but never attained a majority of the votes, let alone the required two-thirds supermajority required by party rules.

"Aw, Give a Feller a Chance" by William A. Rogers in New York World, July, 1924

The Library of Congress dates this William Rogers cartoon August of 1925. I've checked, and the Democrats were not still trying to decide on their nominee ten months after the election. It's the date written in the lower left corner, but it must be the date when Rogers gave the original of the cartoon to F.R. Tyler (if I'm reading the script correctly).  

"Just Can't Understand It" by Albert T. Reid in Rutland Daily Herald, July 17, 1924

Seeing that the nomination would never be his, McAdoo withdrew from the race. Many of his supporters flocked to Indiana Senator Samuel Ralston. Ralston declined to disavow support of the Klan, and enjoyed what political writers of the day called a "boom"; but in the end, the 300-lb., 66-year-old Hoosier heeded his doctor's advice and dropped out of the race.

Alfred Smith led the pack in ballots 86 through 93, and again on ballots 99 and 100. But the candidate of the host of the convention couldn't win the support of one-third of the delegates, let alone two-thirds of them, and ultimately faced the music and pulled out of the race.

"Just as the Roof Fell In" by Edward Gale in Los Angeles Times, July 10, 1924

Finally, on the 103rd ballot, the nomination went to "dark horse" candidate John W. Davis, formerly a congressman from West Virginia and Ambassador to Great Britain, who had come in third on most of the earlier ballots.

"Started at Last" by Douglas Rodger in San Francisco Bulletin, July 11, 1924

To balance the ticket, the vice presidential nod went to Charles W. Bryan, the populist Governor of Nebraska and brother of perennial presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan.

"Those Cyclones Do Play the Queerest Tricks" by J.N. "Ding" Darling in Des Moines Register, July 11, 1924

I ran across quite a few tornado references in July, 1924 editorial cartoons. It's the season for such storms, after all.

"Trying to Take Out the Soreness" by J.N. Darling in Des Moines Register, July 14, 1924

The elder Bryan got over his earlier opposition to Davis and fell in with the new party line. 

These cartoons portraying a diminutive Charles Bryan remind me of R.C. Bowman's cartoons of William Bryan and his 1900 running mate, Adlai Stevenson.

"And Yet He Asks Your Votes" possibly by O.P. Williams for Star Company July 12, 1924

Not everyone was willing to become Davis fans. I'm guessing that the above cartoon was by O.P. Williams, even though I can't spot his typically tiny signature on it. The shading is in Williams's style, and he was a regular feature of the Washington Herald editorial page, which ran this cartoon.

"You Wait and See" by Rollin Kirby in New York World, July, 1924

One of the party defectors denouncing Davis was Senator Burton K. Wheeler of Montana, who may or may not be the object of Rollin Kirby's cartoon above. 

"Watch 'Battling Bob' Bust Up the Love Feast" by Harold Talburt for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., ca. July 21, 1924

Wheeler would accept the second spot on Robert LaFollette's Progressive Party ticket — its third party convention being held in Cleveland, Ohio during the second week of the Democrats' convention.

"Real Cause for Alarm" by O.P. Williams for Star Company, ca. July 7, 1924